The Thunder-Storm War
The Greatest War in the History of the Time of Empires prior to the fall of the world. Prelude to the War Crisis in Thombrick: Thombrick, a small nation south of Myskaria ruled by the esteemed Thombark was in the middle of a war against the Rebel's who were claiming Thombark as a Tyrant, while his noble government claimed the Rebels as terrorists who were creating havoc with the nations fragile economy. As the Rebels struck and slayed several of the elected governments representatives, Thombark fearful for his people and the nation sought help. He convinced the wise Emperor of Atlas Athos to send his people humanitarian relief and aid to help them combat the stresses of the rebellion since Atlas had refused to commit military aid to the conflict zone. On the other hand the Rebel leader had contacted the Noble and strong Emperor of Myrskaria (Derek Myrskarian) and made false claims to the Emperor that he was leading a crusade against Thombark who was mercilessly slaughtering his people in a bid to maintain dominion over the lands. Although Thombark denied these charges and claimed that the Rebels were the only ones conducting such action, the Emperor of Myrskaria sided with the rebels and sent in several of his armies into the beleagured nation. As Atlas ships containing relief and holding the Prince of Atlas (Barnibus) abroad made their way to the nation a storm struck the fleet and a Myrskarian force captured the ships with the Prince. Thombark and his beleagured government made a brave stand at their capital and were holding ground with small pyrrhic victories as the rebels with Myrskarian troopers advanced until word arrived that the fleet was lost and aid wasn't coming. Thombark in disbelief fell to his knees and begged the heavens for support. Little did he know his words would be answered rapidly as an Antioc Empire fleet arrived in the harbour the next day. They were joining in the aid crusade of long time allies and friends Atlas to bring first aid to the people of Thombrick then more soldiers to their outpost City Alas incase of Myrskarian invasion. However, seeing the plight of Thombark along with hearing that the Myrskarian's had assaulted Atlas's aid fleet, the Commander of the Antioc forces made an executive decision to stay and to support the City with the military forces for Alas. As Thombark now had the military aid needed, they quickly took this time and pressed the advantage against the rebels with the Myrskarian forces. Pressing out of the City that assault and defeated the rebels in a terrible rout and turn of events that forced them with the Myrskarian's to retreat close to the Myrskarian border to regroup. With the brilliance of the Antioc forces, Thombrick was spared for the time being. Meanwhile in the Capital of Atlas, word arrived of the loss of the fleet. The Emperor for the first time in his life and more than likely in a state of grief gave into rage. He openly denounced Myrskaria and with a vote in the Senate pushed Atlas with its growing Allies into open war against Myrskaria. It was declared then and there "We will bring the Thunder and they shall have the Storm" by the Emperor Athos. Going to War: The division of sides: ' As the two greatest Empires declared for the first time in history a war against each other, many nations and growing powers jumped to pick sides in the Worlds first ever Global War. The Allies of Atlas formed the Thunder League , while the Allies of Myrskaria formed the Storm Axis . As the powers brought together forces, several nations took the time already with troops in the field to press an early advantage against the Storm Axis, with Antioc leading assaults from Thombrick and Alas, while the North Men rallied in their longships and sailed south to land on the North Beaches of Myrskaria. At the same time several of the Storm Axis powers like Pteros Taurus seen the advantage of waiting and struck at the other Allied Thunder powers like Dragsvold, while sending troops to the Myrskarian Homeland. 'The Battle of the Beaches: ''' '''The Northmen Strike: As the Myrskarian High Command (led by General Cedric Hannula ) prepared for the war realizing that the mistakes of the Emperor would result in a dramatic invasion, they ordered their troops to march towards portions of the coast and in some areas re-inforce local garrisons. Uncertain of where the enemy would strike first, they pulled the Central Fleet into blockade duties, but ultimately had most of the fleets migrate to the East and West corridors to prevent other enemies from landing further forces on Myrskaria's shores. General Cedric a confident commander and skilled tactician was working with as much as possible to mobilize the Empires strengths, when on a sudden Forced to think from the perspective of being the invaded, the Myrskarian's made ready their defenses as fast as possible. However they were not fast enough for on one fateful summer morn, the forces of the North Men and the McCorquodale Clan landed on the Northern Myrskarian shores. The night before they had eluded the Myrskarian Blockade in the Central Sea and swept past them in their long, sleek warships landing on the shores the following day. Quickly the Men of the North dodged the coastal barricades and swept towards the Coastal Cities and Towns sweeping with a fury the likes the Myrskarian's could not have anticipated. Siezing this opportunity the Men of the North sieged several locations and although the Myrskarian's fought hard were pressed to a disadvantage as forces were later pulled out of the area as the battles in the South began to increase in intensity. With this gap the beleageured Myrskarian's were forced to make a withdrawal from the Coast, leaving several Cities like Mytera to the Northmen for the time being. With a great celebratory cheer, the North Men who struggled to take the beaches had won the first victory of the war and with bitter hearts and despair, the Myrskarian's had lost their first battle, but the tides of war have a way of changing so the North Men knew that their victory could be limited. Either way, with a victorious cheer the Men of the North who had struggled so hard reaped the spoils of war and held a massive feast following their conquest while they waited for the rest of the Allied forces to land and support their claim. The war for the Prince had begun and the North Men would play a vital role in the events to come. 'War in the South - Antioc Rising: ' ' ' With the assault by the North Men on Myrskaria in the North, the Antioc Empire from their bastion "the Port City of Alas " and''' bases now establish in "Thombrick" marched in force against the weakened South Eastern Front of the Myrskarian homeland. Led by the brazen and fearless Sir Keren Marok of Edussia along with his mighty Pelon Warriors, they marched on the Myrskarian City of Agincourt where they laid siege to the City. *'''The Battle of Agincourt: After only a few weeks of marching past the borders of the Antioc Empire and the bastion of Alas, the Thunder League forces led by Antioc's greatest hero in history "Sir Keren" marched upon the fabled southern gateway of the Myrskarian Homeland, the City of Agincourt. The City of Agincourt for hundreds of years had acted as a key in the Southern defense system set up by the Myrskarian's in case of invasion by Barbarians from the Dune Sea region of the continent. Although the City had fallen into decline since its hay days of being a rising star for supply convoys and troops transports during the Southern Expanse Wars of the Myrskarian Empire, it still was bristling with heavy defenses and a sizeable garrison. Sir Keren knew this would be a tough shell to crack and made his plans for the assault to include three divisions of his Pelon Warriors, several seige towers (to be twice the normal height) constructed from the local woods and atleast one undermine for the walls to force the defenders to be comprimised on several fronts. The key for the defenders was to hold the line until a Myrskarian relief army could be mustered from the Central provinces and sent to aid the City. However, Sir Keren knew that if he wasn't swift with his attack this seige could result in the breaking of his army when the Central Divisions of the Myrskarian Army arrived. Once his army arrived at the City they made quick picket lines and tested the defenses with several small and swift strikes. First was to test the main gates, second was to test the River Bank or West Road defenses of the City. His men reported back without taking any casualties and Sir Keren knew the time was right. He had the first division of Pelon Warriors "Agathon's Fury" make up the vanguard and his second and third divisions to make up the Western Assault Team. They quickly pushed with support from the Royal Antioc Marines the Siege Towers into place and surrounded the City with the full army. The first act his men did was to bang their shields to drive fear into the garrison. Although the Myrskarian Commander of the garrison "Adjunct Commander, Braxton Thorsen" attempted to quell his troops fears, he ultimately knew the City was potentailly doomed for no sign of an allied army was in sight. When the Antioc forces made to push the towers forward the Myrskarian's unleashed several volleys of arrows, and rounds of artillery at the towers. Sir Keren anticipating this had his men use ballista's he equiped to the tops of the towers revealed and fire down at the seige weapons. To his delight this process was highly effective as his towers were higher than the defenders walls. With a 'thump' and pound noise his ballista's hit their targets and demoralized the defenders abilities to hold back the "Thunder Rush". As his towers approached the walls and landed their platforms his Pelon Warriors through their undermine crashed the Eastern section of the walls down. The Garrison caught completely by surprise went to rally to defend the breach but by this point the Pelon Warriors were already in the City. Sir Keren and his men with the first division charged the Front Gate while the defenders were distracted and leading from the front Sir Keren met the defenders on the walls himself where he slayed in hand to hand combat the garrison Commander Braxton Thorsen. Within a week of settling near the City, Sir Keren's forces had successfully sacked the City. However, to Sir Keren's surprise the garrison seemed weaker than reports had dictated. He thought to himself 'was this a set up' but quickly dismissed the thought in favour of other reports that had showed a steady decline of Myrskaria's forces in the south over the years due to a lack of need for more troops. With the sack of the City, the Thunder Rush Campaign was off to a successful start. *'The Battle of Verduth River': Antioc like the North Men started to believe that their fellow members of the Thunder Leager were not coming and started to blame Atlas. The North Men who expended much of their resources now securing the beachheads they captured were tied down and starting to see Myrskarian forces from the Central Divisions arriving. As word spread to the Antioc forces in the South, Sir Keren knew he needed to speed things up if he was to provide some critical support to the beleagured North Men and decided the best course of action would be to strike through the Central Provinces Alpin cooridor which reports had stated would allow him to bypass much of the Myrskarian Central Division forces. However to get there he would need to clear up several of the Southern Division outposts and defeat the now growing forces of Pteros Taurus (former Bat & Bull Tribe) who had rallied their forces and supplied several divisions of their army to Myrskaria in the Southern region. Sir Keren knew this might be an uphill battle, but was determined to help the North Men and expand the reign of the Antioc Empire further into Myrskaria. As his men departed Agincourt where a new Antioc garrison was established with fresh troops from the Empire, Sir Keren's forces marched towards the Verduth River which channelled from the Central Mountains to the South. There he hoped to make a quick camp and march on the next City in the line towards the Central Alpin region. However, as his army made for the Verduth River they encountered a very large host of Myrskarian's from the Southern Division and now Pteros Taurus troops forming a camp of their own. Sir Keren at first believed word of his plan had been leaked, but quickly realized that this location did make a great staging point for both sides. To his delight though the enemy host had only recently started to prepare a camp and didn't seem all that worried about being attacked. With a quick call to arms, Sir Keren ordered his army to strike and strike they did. They blarred their war horns and charged at the enemy host who in surprise and shock had little time to stop building their camp and pull their weapons. As Sir Keren's men charged into the mass they cleaved swaths through the Pteros Taurus troops and several of the defending camp soldiers instead of stoping to fight instead fled to the forest. This battle was also the first time the Legendary Warrior Shirtless Bob appeared in combat. He took many a licking, but kept on ticking. Sir Keren's forces routed a section of the host. However, a majority of the enemy fled into the forest nearby before his men could do more damage. With most of the camp having being built by the enemy host, Sir Keren quickly ordered his men to form hunting sections to seek out any warriors of the enemy host in the forest and the rest to finish the camp. For the war was just getting started for Sir Keren and he had many more battles to plan. *'Battle for Jemn Castle': Jemn Castle was located near the Verduth River and further north of Agincourt. It acted as a strategic fortress along the river that could potentially block any enemy advancement further north. Sir Keren, knew that Jemn Castle needed to be taken at all costs and worse he knew that the army he routed before had regrouped their now with another host. It seemed like they would outnumber his troops 3 to 1, which to Sir Keren was fair odds considering he knew the Pelon where notable to fighting and defeating 60 to 1 odds. Either way, he knew the battle ahead would be a trial by combat so he marched his troops northward towards the Castle and assaulted one of its outpost towers. To his surprise the mighty Pteros Taurus troops marched forth from the Castle and straight at his troops assaulting the Outpost. Sir Keren order the first Division led by Stephanos Tikor of "Agathon's Fury" to turn and face the enemy. His men formed their fabled Phalanx formation as the Pteros Taurus troops charged. As the enemy hit hard, many warriors were skewered alive on the spears of the Pelon Warriors who then pushed into the fray and did what Pelon's do best, killing. With a grim satisfaction Sir Keren knew this battle was going his way. The garrison of the Castle was now marching out to meet up with the Pteros Taurus division and help them assault the Phalanx, little did they know that the nearby forest held the Second Division "Medusa's Wrath" who struck the Castle as the gates were closing. The quickly rammed into the gates and heaved them open. The second division, now held the read of the enemy forces and controlled the Castle where they used the Citadel's defenses to fire down on the Myrskarian and Pteros Taurus troops wreaking havoc from the rear. As this occured the Legendary Shirtless Bob took an arrow to his side. But dismissed it and led his troops with the Myrskarian forces in a strategic withdrawal earning him the name "Arrow Taker". Sir Keren pleased with his troops now ruled the strategic Castle and knew that the City of Repridine would be his next target. However he would need to crack the Port of Gerhandth first to allow for more supplies to reach his advancing armies. * Seige of the Port of Gerhandth: Now with control over a large sector of the Southern region of Myrskaria near the City of Alas, Sir Keren was forced to bring in more supplies, but fearful his lines to Alas would be cut off would need to have another Port to bring in support. He set his eyes on the stronghold of Gerhandth and felt since the Myrskarian fleet seemed to be deployed in other actions would be a suitable target. With that in mind, Sir Keren ordered the Royal Marines and Antioc Fleet to advance on the Port where they struck at the Ports defenses and minimal fleet to strike a quick victory for Antioc. To Sir Keren's surprise the Myrskarian fleet wasn't as strong as it appeared and his troops were quickly able to overwhelm the defenders forcing yet another victory into Sir Keren's lap. *'Battle for the City of Repredine': Repredine was a City located further north and to the East of Agincourt that had a favourable position as it was closer to the interior of Myrskaria than Agincourt and well protected by local forest and the mountains near by. When Sir Keren marched northward he knew he needed to take it before it could be reinforced by the Central Division of Myrskaria...which he was surprised had not been sighted yet. The other fronts: Dragsvold versus Pteros Taurus a war of devastating terror